Music is more than just an idea, it is a way of life.

It is something that can create

emotions in oneself that they did not know they even had. In reality, music speaks about ones
life, their hardships and happiness, their sorrow and joy. Many types of music have done this for
thousands of years, but I think that the genre that best describes life is reggae, with its soulful
lyrics and laid back island vibe it was a type of music that spoke right to your heart, and with
reggae comes one name, Bob Marley. He wasnt in it for the fame, he was in it for his absolute
love for music. He was a man who spent his entire life preaching about peace over violence, he
wanted to promote the idea of Rastafari, and the principle that all people were equal regardless
of what anyone thought, he created a legacy that has reached beyond his grave and has
inspired the world ever since.

Bob Marley, formerly known as Nesta Robert Marley, was born on the 6th of February,
1945 in the village of Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. His father Norval Sinclair Marley
married his mother, Cedella Booker, in 1945, and soon after had Bob. Norval Marley's family
strongly disapproved of their union; although the Mr.Marley provided financial support, the last
time Bob Marley saw his father was when he was five years old; at that time, Norval took his
son to Kingston to live with his nephew, a businessman, and to attend school. Eighteen months
later Cedella learned that Bob wasn't going to school and was living with an elderly couple.
Alarmed, she went to Kingston, found Bob and brought him home to Nine Miles. Once he turned
12, however, he and his mother moved to Trench Town, Kingston Where he met up with his
friends Neville Livingston (Later known as Bunny Wailer) and Peter Mclintosh (Later known as
Peter Tosh). He made a few songs with them and a man named Joe Higgs who originally
showed Robert the Rastafari movement. It only took a few years until his career took started
and he became engulfed in a lifestyle of music.

Bob, Bunny and Peter were introduced to Clement Sir Coxsone Dodd, a sound system
operator turned producer; Dodd was also the founder of the seminal Jamaican record label
Studio One. With their soulful harmonies and lyrics that echoed the struggles facing Jamaica's
poor, the Wailers attained a sizeable local following. The Wailers' first single for Studio One
"Simmer Down", with Bob cautioning the ghetto youths to control their tempers or "the battle
would be hotter", reportedly sold over 80,000 copies. The Wailers went on to record several hits
for Coxsone including "Rude Boy", "I'm Still Waiting," and an early version of "One Love", the
song the BBC would designate as the Song of the Century some thirty-five years later.
By the mid 60s, the jaunty ska beat had changed into the slower paced rocksteady sound,
which soon gave way to Jamaica's signature reggae rhythm around 1968. Dodd had not made a
shift in his label's releases nor did he embrace the proliferation of lyrics imbued with Rastafarian
beliefs that were essential to reggae . Declining sales of the Wailers' Studio One singles
compounded by a lack of regular pay from Dodd prompted their eventual departure from Studio
One.

Cedella Booker, meanwhile, decided to relocate to the US state of Delaware in 1966.
That same year Bob Marley married Rita Anderson and joined his mother in Delaware for a few
months, where he worked as a DuPont lab assistant and on an assembly line at a Chrysler plant
under the alias Donald Marley. In his absence from Jamaica, His Imperial Majesty Emperor
Haile Selassie I visited the island from April 21-24, 1966. His Majesty is revered as Lord and
Savior, according to Rastafarian beliefs and his visit to Jamaica had a profound impact upon
Rita and Bob. Bob soon adopted the Rastafarian way of life and began wearing his signature
dreadlocks that he has come to be known for. Upon Bob's return to Jamaica, The Wailers
established the Wail'N Soul'M label/record shop in front of his aunt's Trench Town home. The
label's name identified its primary acts: The Wailers and The Soulettes, a female vocal trio
featuring Rita Marley. A few successful Wailers' singles were released including "Bend Down
Low" b/w "Mellow Mood" but due to lack of the money needed to keep it open, the Wailers
dissolved Wail'N Soul'M in 1968, but their love of music didnt die with it.

As the 1970s started, major unemployment, rationed food supplies, political violence
and the IMF's stranglehold on the Jamaican economy due to various policies heavily influenced
the political and social understanding that came to define Bob's lyrics. In 1970 the Wailers
forged a crucial relationship with Jamaican producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, a pioneer in the
development of dub, a type of reggae where the drum and bass foundation is moved to the
forefront. Perry paired The Wailers with his studio band The Upsetters, brothers Carlton and
Aston "Family Man" Barrett, respectively playing drums and bass. Together they forged a
unheard of sonic identity, as found on tracks like "Duppy Conqueror", "400 Years" and "Soul
Rebel", which established an enduring cornerstone for roots reggae. He then went forward and
created his most highly acclaimed album Rastaman Vibration which peaked at #8 on the
Billboard top 200 and greatly gave a clearer understanding of the Rastafari teachings to the
mainstream audience that was now listening to Bob.
Soon after this happened, they released the album Survival, which helped them to
receive worldwide recognition, especially in the newly formed country of Zimbabwe. It was there
that they were to hold a concert at Rufaro Sports Stadium, and 80,000 people inspired by his
music rushed to get a glimpse of the singer, causing pandemonium and forcing police to take
action with tear gas that got into the stage and forced the bend to retreat, but a few hours later
Bob Marley returned to the stage and performed a free concert for everyone. The group soon
embarked on a major European tour in the spring of 1980 for his final album Uprising,
breaking attendance records in several countries. In Milan, Italy, they performed before 100,000
people, the largest audience of their career. The US leg of the "Uprising" tour commenced in
Boston on September 16 at the JB Hynes Auditorium. On September 19 Bob and the Wailers
rolled into New York City for two consecutive sold out nights at Madison Square Garden as part
of a bill featuring New York based rapper Kurtis Blow and Lionel Richie and the Commodores.
The tour went onto the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pa. where Bob delivered the final set of
his illustrious career on September 23, 1980. The Pittsburgh show took place just two days after
Marley learned that the cancer that had taken root in his big toe in 1977, following a football
injury, had metastasized and spread throughout his body. Bob courageously fought the disease
for eight months, even traveling to Germany to undergo treatment at the clinic of Dr. Josef
Issels. At the beginning of May 1981, Bob left Germany to return to Jamaica but he did not
complete that journey; he succumbed to his cancer in a Miami hospital on May 11, 1981. The
world mourned at the lose of a legend that would never be able to see the full effects of his
inspiration.

There is no doubt whatsoever that Bob Marley made a footprint in history. He
accomplished more than a successful career, he was able to help spread to the world his ideas
of non-violence, peace, and Fighting against ism and scism as he sang in One Drop. His
passion for music lead him to create compositions that were different from anything that the
world had ever seen before, he was able to create a new wave of fire in the hearts of the worlds
youth that have lead to not only peace, but freedom as well. You can see his legacy in his many
children as well, and from their fame and efforts to make this world closer to the image that their
father had conceived. Every time I see yellow,green,and red together it automatically reminds
me of him, it has basically become his staple color pattern because of his love for his home
country. I today still listen to his music and hear what he was trying to preach to the world, and
even try to understand what I have learned .His fame has endured for years , because his
message is timeless. the world is definitely not going to forget him anytime soon, one big
indicator is the fact that after his death, they came out with an album called One Love. This
album reached 25 million copies sold worldwide, officially making it a diamond record,
something that very few have ever accomplished. I think that the biggest thing that has been
done to show his legacy endures was in August 2008, two musicians from the war scarred
countries of Serbia and Croatia unveiled a statue of Bob Marley during a rock music festival in
Serbia; the monument's inscription read "Bob Marley Fighter For Freedom Armed With A
Guitar". Just that inscription alone really makes me think that his message may never die.

I feel like he was truly one of the most influential musicians of all time, but some might
argue that he was blown greatly out of proportion.For one thing, He was only a musician. I know
that people would argue with me on that one, but it wasnt like he was some powerful political
figure or rich entrepreneur, he was just a musician who didnt like all of the violence in the world.
He really was a normal person who wanted to voice his opinion, and the thing is,is the fact that
there have been thousands of musicians that have wanted to do the same thing. I think the only
reason that he was greatly acclaimed was the fact that he was different in the fact that he used
reggae and made it popular which made more people come to know him.Also, he really wasnt
that talented of a singer. There were hundreds of singers that could reach higher octaves and
that could make their voice sound soft and velvety. He did sound good, but I think that if his
lyrics hadnt been as soulful and deep as they were that people wouldnt have even paid
attention to him.I think that although he might have been a bit made out to be better than he
actually was, he was still a very important and significant figure. I feel that you could argue that
it might have been luck that he became as big as he was, but I think it was due to the fact that
he knew the issues better than most politicians of the time and was willing to tell the world about
them. I feel like if you truly thought he was over hyped, than you would be hard pressed into
finding someone who would believe that Bob Marley was a phoney.


Overall, I think that Bob Marley accomplished more after his death than while he was
alive. There is much more equality in the world than there was before, and people are starting to
fight for their freedom more and more. He will truly never be forgotten after all that has been
said and done about him. He showed the world what the Rastafari movement was and greatly
influenced reggae music through it. He helped mankind by putting more knowledge into the
common people of what it was like to be a black man in a white mans world, he showed
equality as a thing that had to be achieved instead of just earned. I really was satisfied with
picking him mostly because I have always wanted to know more about him and what his life was
like, I truly feel a better enriched person by reading some parts of his life and the impact that he
has made. He showed the world that one voice can change as much as one gun could, but one
song could change as much as an entire army could.





















Bob Marley Report
By: Anthony Capretto





Sources:
Bob Marley.com
Biography.com
Bob Marley: the biography by Stephen
Davis